Group argues tortoise policy is not effective
REVIEW ASKED: A multi-county coalition calls land-use restrictions costly
and unsuccessful.
07/02/2003
By ELENA ARNOLD
THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
A multi-county government coalition is asking that the Department of the Interior review a 9-year-old plan to save the threatened Mojave Desert tortoise from extinction.
The QuadState County Government Coalition alleges that recovery efforts, including land use restriction and mitigation requirements, have been unsuccessful, costly and don't address the real threats against the creature, Executive Director Gerald Hillier said by phone.
On Friday, the group submitted a notice of intent to file suit against the Department of Interior and its agencies, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management. The agencies have 60 days to either review the tortoise policy, negotiate with the coalition or prepare for litigation, Hillier said.
"Evidence seems to indicate that the real causes of tortoise decline in the last decade is disease and predation," he said.
Lois Grunwald, a U. S. Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman in Ventura, declined to comment Monday afternoon. She said she had not seen the notice.
In 1994, federal agencies began spending money and closing land in an effort to boost the numbers of tortoises, Hillier said, adding that a review was scheduled for 1999. More than six million restricted acres and $100 million later, and no review, QuadState is demanding answers and a better plan, he said.
"We want an opportunity to not only have them make that review, but to participate in it," Hillier said. "We would like to see them doing those things that really have a positive effect rather than doing land-use restrictions that don't seem to have an effect at all."
QuadState is an organization of six county governments in four Mojave desert region states, including San Bernardino, Imperial and Kern counties in California.